Hinge and box assembly



Jan. 24, 1961 AUGENsTElN- 2,969,165

HINGE AND BOX ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 16, 1959 FIG.4

FIG. 5

INVENTOR. HE LM UT AUGENSTEIN ATTORNEY v United States Patent HINGE AND BOX ASSEMBLY Helmut Augenstein, Warwick, R.I., assignor to Jewel Case Corporation, Providence, R.I., a corporation of Rhode Island Filed Feb. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 793,571

4 Claims. (Cl. 220-35) The present invention relates to improvements in hinges and hinge and box assemblies, and methods of assembling hinge and box elements.

In prior hinge constructions utilized to interconnect box halves, the hinge plates were formed with narrow slots through which the prongs of each box half were engaged and then bent over to complete the connection. Because the slots were narrow, it was necessary to have all of the prongs aligned with their respective slots before any prong could be engaged into its slot. This was difiicult and because the slots afforded inadequate visibility hunting was required in order to insert the prongs into the slots. With the present arrangement, however, substantial visibility is available and the slot size relative to the prong size permits engagement of at least one prong into its respective slot without hunting, after which the remaining prongs can easily be engaged in their respective slots. Where I provide for lateral engagement of the prongs into the'hing'e plate slot formations, the prongs can be aligned with the 'side edge openings and easily engaged 'therethrough, also withoutthe hunting encountered in prior conventional constructions.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved hinge for use in the assembly of box%, such as display boxes, wherein interconnection of the hinge with the cooperative walls of the box halves is substantially facilitated thereby reducing the cost of manufacture thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved hinge and box assembly wherein the hinge is so formed as to provide for faster interengagement of the hinge plates with the respective cooperative box walls for interconnection therewith.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved hinge construction for interconnecting the box halves, such as of a metal display box, wherein one wall of each box half is formed with outstanding prongs, the hinge plates being formed with enlarged open-sided slots whereby the prongs can be engaged therein with minimum difiiculty so as to speed up the connection of the hinge to the box halves.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved hinge construction embodying slot formations in at least one of the hinge plates, which slot formations open out at the side thereof and are adapted to receive the prongs of the cooperative box half by either lateral engagement of the prongs into the slot formations or longitudinal engagement of the prongs into the slot formations, after which the prongs can be bent over to complete the assembly.

Various other objects and advantages will become apparent from the detailed description to follow.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a hinge in accordance with the present invention and a pair of box halves which are to be connected thereby;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a modified form of hinge and showing a pair of box halves, each having a wall Patented Jan. 24, 1961 "ice formed with outstanding prongs which are to be laterally engaged in the slot formations of the hinge plates;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 33 in Figure 2;

Figure 4 shows the completed assembly of a hinge and a pair of box halves, in accordance with the present invention; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 55 in Figure 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals apply to like parts throughout, and having reference first to Figure 1, it will be seen that I have provided an improved hinge at 10 to be connected with a pair of box halves 12 and 14. The box halves 12 and 14 are of generally conventional construction and each has one wall thereof, as at 16 and 18, formed with a plurality of outstanding prongs 20 and 22. Inasmuch as the box halves 12 and 14 are usually made from metal, the prongs 20 and 22 can be formed by a punching operation.

The hinge 10 is comprised of a pair of hinge plates 24 and 26 which are formed along juxtaposed edges with pintle bearings 28 and 30 which receive the pintle 32 therethrough for pivotally interconnecting the hinge plates 24 and 26, as is conventional. Each of the hinge plates is notched as at 34 and 36 and a leaf spring 38 is engaged thereover so as to resiliently hold the hinge plates 24 and 26 in either their open or closed relationship, also as is conventional.

The hinge plate 24 is formed with at least one pair of slot formations as at 40 and 42 but preferably is formed with a second pair of slot formations as at 44 and 4 6. The slot formations 40 and 42 have edges 48 and 50 facing each other and spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the spacing of the outermost pair of prongs 20 on the wall 16 of the boxhalf 12. The pair of slot formations 44 and 46 are similarly formed with edges 52 and 54 which face each other and are spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the spacing of the inner prongs 20 of the box half 12. The slot formation edges 48, 50, 52 and 54 extend away from the pintle axis and each terminates in an abutment shoulder at 56, 58, 60 and 62, the longitudinal extent of the abutment shoulders being such as to prevent lateral disengagement of the prongs 20 from the slot formations 42 after cooperative engagement with the edges 48, 50, 52 and 54. The slot formations 40, 42, 44 and 46 are formed with further edges at 64, 66, 68 and 70 which extend substantially away from the first mentioned slot formation edges at their inner ends, outwardly to the outer edges of the hinge plate 24. Thus, the slot formations .are of substantially enlarged size affording considerable visibility during engagement of the hinge plates over the box walls 16 and 18 when engaging the prongs 20 and 22 in their respective slot formations of the hinge plates.

Inasmuch as the hinge plate 26 is formed with slot formations similar to the slot formations on the hinge plate 24, duplicate description thereof is deemed un necessary.

When it is desired to connect the hinge 10 to the box halves 12 and 14, the hinge 10 is held and moved so that the hinge plate 24 passes vertically downwardly on the prongs 20 of the box half 12 so that the prongs are ongaged cooperatively with the slot formation edges 48, 50, 52 and 54. Next, the hinge 10 with the box 12 are moved so that the hinge plate 26 passes vertically downwardly over the prongs 22 of the box half 14 so that the prongs are received within the slot formations of the hinge plate 26 in a similar fashion. Next, the prongs can be bent outwardly from the center of the box walls 16 and 18 so as to complete the interconnection.

Looking now at Figures 2 and 3, a slightly modified form of hinge will now be described. The box halves 12 and 14 are identical with the box halves described above and therefore like numerals are applied thereto. The hinge it? differs from the hinge 10 in its slot formations '72, 7- 76 and 73 in each of the hinge plates 24 and 26. In this embodiment, the edges Stland 82 of the slot formations '72 and 74 face each other and are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the spacing of the cooperative prongs 2t), 22 of the box half 12, 14. The slot formation edges 80, 82, 84 and 86 all extend outwardly toward the outer edges 88 of the hinge plate 24, 26 and terminate in abutment shoulders 90, 92, 94 and 96 The longitudinal extent of the abutment shoulders 90, 92, 94 and 96 is such as to provide a spacing substantially equal to the spacing of the cooperative prongs 20, 22 whereby the prongs can be laterally engaged in the slot formations 72, 74, 76 and 78 past the abutment shoulders. After laterally passing the prongs 20. or 22 relative to the box halves 12 or 14 past the abutment shoulders of the slot formations, it will be seen that the prongs are spaced from the slot formation edges 8t), 82, 84 and 86. However, when the prongs are bent over such slot formation edges, to connect the hinge plates to the box halves, the prongs will be engaged within the abutment shoulders so as to provide a permanent interconnectionwhich prevent's lateral disengagement of the prongs from the slot formations.

Figure 3 shows the manner in which the box halves 12 and 14 can be moved with respect to the hinge platesof a hinge in order to engage the prongs 20. and 22 into the respective slot formations. Figures 4 and showthe'c'ofii-T,

pleted assembly with the prongs bent over so. as to hold the respective hinge plates on the respective box walls l for P a intacbnn s s r I f, I

rqm the fq t F-. 1 ?.l=9 tha tli a and 10' permit of two modes ofinterengagerjneint wit 1H5.

respective cooperative box halves, one beingsby vertical engagement of the hinge plates over the prongs and the other being by lateral sliding engagement of the prongs past the abutment shoulders of the slot formations. After such interengagement of the hinge plates and the prongs of the cooperative box halves, the prongs can be struck over and the completed assembly will in either case be substantially as shown in Figures 4 and 5.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided an arrangement which fulfills the objects hereinbe? fore enumerated. v

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore-illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well as conjointly cooperative equivalents, are therefore intended to be embraced by these claims.

I claim:

1. In a box having top and bottom halves to be hingedly interconnected, at least one of said box halves having one wall thereof formed with outstanding prongs, a hinge comprising a pair of hinge plates, means pivotally connecting the hinge plates to each other at juxtaposed edges, at least one of said hinge plates having slot formations therein for receiving said prongs, said slot formations extending transversely of the respective hinge plate and opening out at the side edge thereof remote from said juxtaposed edges, said slot formations each having an edge over which a prong is adapted to be bent to connect the hinge plate to its respective box half, the edges over which the prongs are bent terminating in prong-retaining shoulders at said side edge of the respective hinge plate, and said slot formations having further edges extending substantially away from the first mentioned slot formation edges.

2. In a box having topand bottom halves to be hingedly interconnected, at least one of said box halves having one wall thereof formed with outstanding prongs, a hinge comprising a pair of hingeplates, means-pivotally connecting the hinge plates to each other at juxtaposed edges, at least one of said hinge plates having slot formations therein for receiving said prongs, said slot formations extending transversely of the respective hinge plate and opening out at the side edge thereof remote from said juxtaposed edges, said slot formations each having an edge over which a prong is adapted to be bent to connect the hinge plate to its respective box half, at least two of the edges over which the prongs are bentbeing oppositely disposed and spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the spacing of cooperative prongs, the edges over which the" prongs are bent terminating in shoulders at said side edge of the respective hinge plate. v

In a box hav'irig top and bottom halves to be hingedly interconnected, "atleast one of'said box halves having one wall thereof formed with outstanding prongs, a hinge comprising a pair of hinge: plates, meanspivotally connecting thehi n g'e plates to each other atjuxtaposed edges,

ing I side' edgefo e respective hinge plate, "at least two'of's'aid shoulders extending in opposite directions and being spaced so as to permit lateral engagenient ofsaid'prongs' past said'shoulde'rs into said slot formations, and said slot formations having further edges extending substantially away from the first mentioned slot formationedges. j

' 4. In a bo'x'having top and bottom halves to be hingedly interconnected, at leastone of said box halves Having one wall thereof termed with outstanding prongs, ahin'ge comprisinga pair of hinge plates, means pivotany; interconneeti'ri'g the hinge platesat juxtaposed edges, at least one of sai d hinge plateshaving slot formations therein for receiving said prongs, said slot formations extending transversely of the respective hinge ,plate and bpenin giout 'at tlie side edge thereof remote from said juxtaposed edges said slot formations eachhaying a generally transversely extending, edge over which a prong adapted to be bent to connect the hinge plate to its respective box half, the edges over which the prongs are bent terminating in longitudinally offset portions at said side edge of the respective hinge plate, the longitudinal extent ofsaid offset portions being such as to prevent lateral disengagement of the prongs from their respective edges, andsaid slot formations having further edges terminatingfatthe side edge of the respective hinge plate in spaced relation to'the respective offset portions.

References Cited-in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

